He hijacked the plane to meet his ex-wife

Most of the passengers and crew who were on board a hijacked Egyptian plane that was forced to divert to Larnaca airport in Cyprus have been freed.

EgyptAir Flight MS181 was taken over after a passenger claimed to be wearing a suicide explosive belt.

Reports say the hijacker wants to talk to his estranged wife in Cyprus, and the Cypriot president has said the hijack is not a terrorist incident.

The hijacker- Mr Ibraham Samah wife has left him a few months back as she was unable to digest the non-sensical and rather sadistic behaviour of her husband, according to reports. She did not speak to him and went to Cyprus.

The reports stated that the hijacker was demoralized and in a desperate attempt to speak to her, resorted to this extreme step.

A foreign ministry spokesman said he is not a terrorist but an idiot.

He said negotiations with the hijacker – who had made no specific demands – were continuing, and that it was unclear whether the hijacker had taken explosives on board or whether he was bluffing.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said in response to a reporter’s question about whether the hijacker was motivated by romance, he laughed and said: “Always there is a woman involved.”

EgyptAir said the Airbus A320 was carrying 56 passengers from Alexandria to Cairo, along with six crew and a security official. It had earlier said 81 passengers were on board.